Tolkien's Lord of the Rings:Truth, Myth or Both?

By Berit Kjos

"The Lord of the Rings
trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien has inspired more commentary, creativity and
following than arguably any other modern-day work of art or literature.
Surprisingly, it has also been interpreted by--and, thus, embraced by--the
adherents of such wildly divergent philosophies as neopagans and evangelical
Christians."[1]Lord of the
Rings: True Mythology

"In making a myth, in practicing
'mythopoeia,' and peopling the world with elves and dragons and goblins,
a story-teller ... is actually fulfilling God's
purpose, and reflecting a splintered fragment of the true
light."[2]
J.R.R. Tolkien [emphasis added]

"...the thing seems to write itself
once I get going...." The Letters of J. R.
R Tolkien, page 91.

"Harry Potter and Frodo Baggins, Tolkien's protagonist, will soon battle not
only evil but also each other for the hearts and minds of a generation," wrote
Brian Carney in the Wall Street Journal article, Tolkien runs rings around
Potter, back in December. "If there is any justice in the world, Frodo should
win."[3]

The race isn't over. Both studios bet their success on top-selling books and
on the soaring popularity of myth, magic and mystical forces in our
post-Christian world. Harry Potter's theme and thrills are simpler, more
readable for today's visually oriented youth. But Tolkien's sophisticated
mythology has gathered a huge following through the decades.

Both
stories involve wizards, spells, mythical creatures and magic charms. Both
demonstrate the battle between a mythical "good" and evil. Both pit heroic
"white" magic against dark menacing occultism.

But
Potter wields his "good" magic in an obviously occult setting with no claim to
Christian symbolism. In contrast, Frodo, the hobbit hero of "The Lord of the Rings" lives
in a world that supposedly reflects Biblical truth and Christ's redemptive
love. But does it?

Does Frodo's
suffering really represent the suffering of Christ? Does wizard Gandalf's
self-sacrifice typify the crucifixion? Many Christian fans argue "yes." If they
are right, what do these comparisons actually teach us about truth and redemption?

Or might this
popular "gospel" be distorting God's truth? Perhaps Tolkien
himself can provide some answers.

The man and his message. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
(1892-1973)
was a man of many contradictions. For example:

Back in 1969, he wrote a letter affirming that "the chief purpose of
life, for any one of us, is to increase according to our capacity our
knowledge of God by all the means we have, and to be moved by it to praise
and thanks."[4]
Yet the primary focus of his life was his
mythical Middle-earth, headed by a distant and impersonal "God" who might
confuse rather than clarify the nature of the Biblical God.

In
his personal letters (many are included in a book titled The Letters of
J. R. R Tolkien), he expressed caution toward occult practices. But he
equipped his team of mythical heroes -- the fellowship of the Ring --
with the pagan powers that God forbids. For example, "Gandalf [a helpful
wizard] is able to wield potent magic... To do battle with the forces of
darkness, Gandalf the Grey can call upon not only his spellcraft, but also
his staff of power and the Elven sword Glamdring."[5]

A
staunch Roman Catholic, he affirmed his faith in the One God who created the
universe. But his mythical God stopped creating before the work was
finished, then turned the rest over to a group of lesser gods or
"sub-creators." In other words, Tolkien invented a hierarchy of deities that
defied the Biblical God's wise warnings concerning both real and imagined
idolatry.[6]

You
won't meet those gods and spirits in The Lord of the Rings, for their
creative work finished long before the current story began. But this strange
creation story laid the foundation for all the other parts in Tolkien's
many-faceted tale. It also helps us understand the author's thoughts and
evaluate the message he spreads through his popular myth.

Dr.
Ralph C. Wood, Professor of English at Baylor University and an expert on
Tolkien's work, described those "lesser gods" or ruling spirits. Notice that
the reigning God sounds more like the aloof deity of deism than the caring God
of the Bible. Other "gods" would fit right into Norse and Celtic mythology
(two areas of research that fascinated Tolkien):

"At
the top stands Ilúvatar, the All-Father,
corresponding roughly to the One whom Christians call God the Father
Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth. From him all things proceed, and to him
all things return. He is the beginning and the end, the One who shapes all
events to his own purposes. He... only rarely intervenes in his Creation,
preferring instead to work through... fifteen subordinate
beings....

"ManwĎ, the Good and Pure.... is most concerned with air, wind, clouds, and
the birds that fly. ManwĎ's spouse is Varda, the Exalted. She made the
stars, established the courses of the Sun and Moon, and set the morning
and evening star Erendil in the sky. Thus is she known to the elves as Elbereth
(Star-Queen) and Gilthoniel (Star-Kindler). She listens to the cries
of both men and elves in order to come to their aid and succor.

Next comes Melkor ("He who arises in Might"). Ilúvatar gave to
him greater power and knowledge than to any of the other Valar.... He
desired to have his own power to create things out of nothing--to give them
true Being--as the All-Father did. So he searched in the Void for the Flame
Imperishable, disturbing the original Music which Ilúvatar had created to
keep the Timeless Halls in harmony....

Ulmo ("pourer, rainer") is...lord of
waters... he dwells in the Outer Ocean or in the waters
underneath Middle Earth, governing the movement of
all oceans and rivers. Ulmo cares greatly for the Children of
Ilúvatar, advising them by direct appearances, by dreams, or through the
music of waters....

"Irmo ("master of desire") is the author of visions and
dreams...."[7]emphasis
added

Together, Ilúvatar and the lesser gods suggest an unbiblical blend of
impersonal monotheism and personal polytheism, for only the lesser gods become
involved in the lives of the people. In contrast, Christian faith rests on a
clear understanding of God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. He alone is
Creator and Lord of all, and He continues to be intimately involved in the
lives of His people. He does not delegate that Lordship to any other deity.

Of course, myths and stories can't be held accountable to reality. Unlike God's
absolute truth, myths are changeable -- a timeless product of man's subjective
search for meaning. Birthed in the human imagination and subject to human dreams,
they are free to twist and stretch any "truth" they supposedly illustrate. We
see this process in classrooms across the country, where the world's myths are
altered in order to provide the "right" kind of models for the envisioned global
spirituality. (See Establishing a Global Spirituality: http://crossroad.to/Books/BraveNewSchools/4-Global%20Spirituality.html).

Tolkien, himself, assures us that he didn't
intend to teach Biblical reality through his mythical fantasy. In a 1956
letter he wrote, "There is no 'allegory' -- moral, political, or contemporary
-- in the work at all. It is a 'fairy-story' ... [written] for adults.
232 Later he
continued,

"It is, I should say, a 'monotheistic but
'sub-creational' mythology.' There is no embodiment of the One, of God, who
indeed remains remote, outside the World, and only directly accessible to
the Valar or Rulers. These take the place of the 'gods', but are created
spirits...."[8]

Yet,
many Christians argue that Tolkien's spiritual hierarchy does indeed parallel
the Biblical account. Even Tolkien, in spite of his denials, has compared
parts of his myth with corresponding aspects of truth. But the obvious
similarities tend to confuse rather than clarify Biblical truth. For Tolkien's
myth twists Scriptures enough to change their meanings and muddle the true
nature of God. Like the serpent's temptation in the garden, Tolkien's
illusions of truth appeal to human feelings and may lead to deception.

For
example, his elves and wizards -- the creatures empowered with magical skills
-- enjoy the certainty of unconditional eternal life. But humans do not. Their
lives -- with rare exceptions [9] -- must end with
their physical death.

Instead of the Christian's hope of eternal life, Tolkien's world offers
re-incarnation -- but only for a select group. This popular notion defies the
Scriptures that tell us that "it is appointed for men to die once, but after
this the judgment..." [Heb 9:27] Concerned about this contradiction, the manager of
a Catholic bookstore asked Tolkien if he might have "over-stepped the mark in
metaphysical matters." Tolkien wrote this response,

"'Reincarnation' may be bad theology (that
surely, rather than metaphysics) as applied to Humanity... But I do
not see how even in the Primary world any theologian or philosopher, unless
very much better informed about the relation of spirit and body than I
believe anyone to be, could deny the possibility of re-incarnation as a mode
of existence, prescribed for certain kinds of rational incarnate
creatures."[10]

Since Tolkien denies any supposed allegorical link between his myth and Biblical
truth, it's not fair to hold his stories accountable to that truth. Nor is it
wise to continue claiming that they teach us God's truth. Those who do could
easily be tempted to lower their guard, set aside discernment, internalize the
fascinating suggestions and be drawn to occult images -- the opposite of God's
warning in Romans 12:9: "Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."

The movie version of The Lord of the Rings idealizes occultism and cheers
the pagan practices used by "good" characters. Like Star Wars,Harry
Potter and the world's pagan cultures, it seduces its fans into an imaginary
world that pits "white" or benevolent magic against dark, evil magic. Both sides
of this imagined "battle between good and evil" use occult practices that God
forbids. (Deut 18:9-12). Those who walk with Him, cannot delight in what
He calls evil.

The fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien's talent as a
storyteller, gives life to this mythical world. He makes sense of the deadly
ambitions of the power-hungry Lord Sauron who serves the evil Melkor.
Therefore, the wizardry we would shun in the real world becomes a welcome
solution in the context of this story:

A young Hobbit, Frodo Baggins, has inherited the
Ring from his uncle, Bilbo Baggins. Unlike many previous owners, Frodo resists
the impulse to keep the ring and use its magic for selfish purposes. Instead,
he sets out on a difficult journey to destroy the cursed Ring in the fires of
Mount Doom where it once was forged. But he can’t do it alone.

Three of his loyal Hobbit friends join the team:
Sam, Merry and Pippin. So do Aragorn and Boromir (two humans), Legolas (an
elf) and Gimli (a dwarf). With help from three other powerful elves, the
wizard Gandalf guides them along the way. Tolkien describes his
nature:

"Gandalf is not, of course, a human being (Man or
Hobbit). There are naturally no precise modern terms to say what he was. I
would venture to say that he was an incarnate 'angel'.... with the other
Istari, wizards, 'those who know', an emissary from the Lords of the West,
sent to Middle-earth as the great crisis of Sauron loomed on the horizon. By
'incarnate' I meant they were embodied in physical bodies capable of pain
and weariness...."[11]

"Why they should take such a form is bound up
with the 'mythology' of the 'angelic' Powers of the world of this fable. At
this point in the fabulous history the purpose was precisely to limit and
hinder their exhibition of 'power' on the physical plane, so that they would
do what they were primarily sent for: train, advise, instruct, arouse the
hearts and minds of those threatened by Sauron to a resistance with their
own strength.... The wizards were not exempt, indeed being incarnate were
more likely to stray, or err. Gandalf alone fully passes the test, on a
moral plane anyway. For in his condition it was for him a sacrifice to
perish on the Bridge in defense of his companions.... Gandalf
sacrificed himself, was accepted and enhanced and returned."[11]

Gandalf really 'died' and was changed....
'I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death'."[12]

This incarnate "angel" wouldn't fit into the host
of Biblical angels. But he could well fit in the hierarchy of "devas" or "angels" and ascended masters in the elaborate spiritual system called Theosophy or
"Ancient Wisdom." Founded by Madame Helena Blavatsky, this esoteric blend of
Hinduism and Western occultism received its doctrines from "ascended masters"
or spirit guides such as Djhwal Khul who channeled his messages to the medium
Alice Bailey.

The allure of Atlantis. The legendary Atlantis
played an important part in the Theosophical world
view -- just as it did in Tolkien's grand mythology. In the Secret Doctrine,
written for the Theosophical Society, Madame Helena Blavatsky told about
"revelatory spirits from the Orient" who brought insights from
Atlantis and described its people as one of humanity's
seven "root" races.

Countless other leaders and mystics, authors and psychics have dreamt of Atlantis.
They include the "sleeping prophet" Edgar Cayce (who linked it to "Mayan land"),
Rudolph Steiner (founder of Waldorf Schools) and Dr. Shirley McCune, keynote
speaker at the 1989 Governor's Conference on Education in Kansas. In her book
The Light Shall Set You Free (based on channeled messages from various
angelic beings or ascended masters), she writes,

"The Atlanteans operated on this
superior level of existence, connected to their Higher Selves. With the fall
of Atlantis, humanity experienced a struggle for survival and became aware
of the lower self, dominated by the will of the ego. Now after
thousands of years of evolution, most people have forgotten ... how to
connect with higher dimensions...."[13]

Tolkien paints a similar picture of Atlantis. He
put the legend into the First Age of his mythical history. The destruction of
Atlantis came in the Second Age. The Lord of the Rings takes place in
the Third Age. But they all fit together:

"The particular 'myth' which lies behind this
tale... is the Downfall of Numenor: a special variety of the Atlantis
tradition. That seems to me so fundamental to 'mythical history' -- whether
it has any kind of basis in real history.... that some version of it would
have to come in.... "[14]

"Numenor is my personal alteration of the
Atlantis myth and /or tradition, and accommodation of it to my general
mythology. Of all the mythical or 'archetypal' images this is the one most
deeply seated in my imagination, and for many years I
had a recurrent Atlantis dream: the stupendous and ineluctable wave
advancing from the Sea or over the land, sometimes dark,
sometimes green and sunlit."[15]emphasis
added

"Numenor," explained Tolkien in an earlier
letter, "topples and vanishes for ever with all its glory in the abyss.
Thereafter there is no visible dwelling of the divine or immortal on earth....
So the end of the Second Age draws on a major catastrophe...."[16]

Myth and
inspiration. In "Lord of the Rings: True
Mythology," an
introduction to a series of articles on Tolkien, Leadership U (sponsored by Christian
Leadership Ministries) notes that "Many
critics have scorned the trilogy as mere escapism, but Tolkien saw it as
discovered reality, that his mythmaking was an attempt to
uncover what is real in the clearest way possible: 'true myth.'"[17] [emphasis added]

Tolkien's mythical reality sounds a bit like an oxymoron. Myth, by
standard definition, implies something other than reality. Tolkien himself
denies the link between his myth and God's truth. Still, that link lingers in
many contemporary minds -- especially among those who love the story. But can
it represent Biblical reality?

Leadership U continues,
"Biblical imagery, many claim, abounds within the tales--which actually
contain no explicit mention of God, Christ or worship. This seeming ambiguity
has left much room for neopagans and others to point out the abundance of
gods, spirits, sprites and other mythical and pagan characters in the
text."[17]

Today's culture is well accustomed to ambiguity. We see it in ads, in
political propaganda, in the new laws being passed.... Lofty promises are in;
defining terms are out. The latter clarifies and allows rational choices
rather than feel-good conformity.

To
see through some of Tolkien's ambiguity, one might look at his sources of
inspiration. Once again, Tolkien expert, Professor Wood, can help us out. In
his review of Verlyn Flieger's A Question of Time:
J. R. R. Tolkien's Road to FaĎrie, he acknowledges that Tolkien was
influenced by 19th century Romantics such as George Macdonald,"
since his friend and literary companion
C. S. Lewis was also decisively shaped by them." He continues,

"What
comes as a genuine shock is the news that Tolkien's mind and work were
marked by the fictional dream-journeys of George Du Maurier, by the psychic
experiences of Charlotte Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, by the time-travel
fantasies of H. G. Wells....

"Flieger has shown us a darker, less cheering
Tolkien than many of his Christian apologists have acknowledged. Here again
she is right: Tolkien was a man whose faith was shadowed and
doubt-filled.... Yet if the worth of a critical study lies in its
illumination of an author's main work, then Flieger's book must be faulted
even as it is to be praised. She fails to illuminate The Lord of the
Rings nearly as much she explains two minor works that interest few folk
other than Tolkienian archivists....And because she finds Tolkien
entertaining notions of reincarnation and psychic time-travel and occult
experience at these particular points in his fiction, she assumes that they
are at work everywhere in his work.

"Flieger is right to contend that Tolkien shared
their neo-gnostic critique of our century's decadent and violent
materialism. Yet she fails to see that Tolkien also resists what is spurious
in the attempt to have God without incarnation or cross or resurrection--in
short, to have God without God...."[18]

Yes
and no. On this point, ambiguity reigns. Tolkien's mythical world does include
a "God without God." A God is there, but not the cross or resurrection.
Christians, like pagans, may interpret him in whichever way best fits their
worldview or satisfies their lust for imaginary flights into the occult realms
of magic and mysticism.

Terry
Donaldson, the Founder and Director of the London Tarot Training Centre makes
this imaginary flight seem easy.. Already steeped in occult practices, he
packaged his interpretation of Tolkien's myth in an attractive gift box. It's
title reveals its nature: "The Lord of the Rings Oracle: A Mystical Pack with
Middle-earth Cards, Map, and Ring for Divination and Revelation." The back
explains:

"The realm of the Middle Earth lies within each of us, so cast
the gold ring over the map, and foretell the future through the cards. The
Lord of the Rings Oracle is a new and extraordinary divinatory system based
on the bestselling Lord of the Rings... a story laden with mysterious
magic."[19]

Surrounding the gift box were Harry Potter books and a multitude of
more recent publications on witchcraft, palmistry, tarot cards and spell
casting. Together they show the growing acceptance of a forbidden world once
regarded with a sobering caution.

This
spiritual shift has taken many Christians by surprise. For others, it
took little more than an initial glimpse into occult mysteries to stir
curiosity and cravings that drove them ever deeper into the unseen world their
minds have unlocked.

The
Lord of the Rings is no exception. Decades ago, when witchcraft and wizardry
were hidden from public view, young "Middle-earth" visionaries had no
real-life place to test the new suggestions. That has changed. Through books,
local covens, the Internet and other available sources, seekers can easily
find tutors and practices that turn wizardly fantasy into practical
occult reality. This sobering fact makes our world today radically
different from the times when Tolkien and his friends shared their stories
with each other.

Friendship with C. S. Lewis. Did Tolkien really lead the
unbelieving Lewis to a saving faith? Many Christians would answer "yes" -- and
therefore assume that Tolkien's myths would teach a Christian message. Walther
Hooper, Lewis' last personal secretary, gives us a partial glimpse of that
event.

"Lewis became an atheist when he was fourteen,"
wrote Hooper in Tolkien: A Celebration, a collection of essays.
Apparently, the teenager was frustrated by teachers who viewed pagan beliefs
as "nonsense." When they wouldn't show "how Christianity fulfilled paganism or
how paganism prefigured Christianity," young Lewis concluded that Christianity
was equally "nonsensical."[20]

His mind was changed on the night of September
19, 1931, the "most momentous of his life. Lewis had invited Tolkien and
Hugo Dyson, a teacher at Reading University, to dine. By the time Tolkien left
Magdalen at 3 a.m. Lewis understood the relationship between Christianity and
paganism." A month later, Lewis wrote the following letter:

"Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth:
a myth working on us the same way as the others, but with this tremendous
difference that it Really happened: and one must be content to accept it
in the same way, remembering that it is God's myth where the others are
men's myths; i.e. the Pagan stories are God
expressing Himself through the minds of the poets, using such
images as He found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself
through what we call 'real things' ... namely, the actual incarnation,
crucifixion, and resurrection."[20]

Maybe Lewis did, at that moment, receive Christ
as Savior and Lord. But this statement falls far short of such assurance. Two
other accounts fill in some of the pieces.

According to Colin Gunton, Professor of Christian Doctrine in the
Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King's College, London, the
three friends were discussing the truthfulness of myths. Lewis questioned the
compatibility of Christianity and paganism, and Tolkien explained why myths
"are not lies:"

"Man is not ultimately a liar. He may pervert his
thoughts into lies, but he comes from God, and it is from God that he draws
his ultimate ideals ... Not merely the abstract thoughts of man but also his
imaginative inventions must originate with God, and in consequence reflect
something of eternal truth.

"In making a myth, in practicing 'mythopoeia,'
and peopling the world with elves and dragons and goblins, a story-teller ..
is actually fulfilling God's purpose, and reflecting a splintered fragment
of the true light."[2]

The
God of the Bible has a far lower view of the human imagination than does
Tolkien, and He certainly does not take credit for its mythical speculations.
Instead, He warns us repeatedly that "the imagination of man’s heart is evil
from his youth." [Genesis 8:21,
NKJ] While Tolkien seems to view Christianity
and oneness with Christ from a universal perspective, God tells us that only
those who are "born of the Spirit" can understand His truths and receive His
thoughts. And even this select group is easily tempted to imagine or "invent"
unholy myths and images.

Another report, C.S.Lewis and Emil Brunner: Two Mere Christians, by Mark McKim,
tells us that Lewis "was in part led back to Christianity as a result of his
love for and knowledge of the great pagan myths. In Christianity, he concluded,
the hints and suggestions in pagan thought were fulfilled.... For the rest of
his life, and throughout his writings, Lewis would assert that non-Christian
faiths could be the entre to Christianity."[21]

Like Dr. Hooper, Mark McKim included a portion of
Lewis' letter to Arthur Greeves:

"...if I met the idea of sacrifice in a
Pagan story I didn't mind it at all: again if I met the idea of a god
sacrificing himself to himself... I liked it very much and was mysteriously
moved by it: again, that the idea of the dying and reviving god . . .
similarly moved me provided I met it anywhere except in the Gospels.
The reason was that in the Pagan stories I was prepared to feel the myth as
profound and suggestive of meanings beyond my grasp even tho' I could not
say in cold prose 'what it meant'. Now the story of
Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the
others, but with this tremendous difference that it really
happened...."[21]emphasis
added

Lewis was wrong in calling the gospel "a true
myth" that works "on us in the same way as the others." The gospel is made
alive in us by the work of the Holy Spirit, not by human imagination. God's
mercy has always reached out to pagans around the world through the
sacrificial lives of faithful missionaries. But His gift of salvation comes
through His Word and Spirit. Believers who were formerly oppressed by occult
forces were transformed in spite of, not because of their pagan
beliefs.

Lewis had insisted myths were lies but
Tolkien responded, 'they are not . . . We have
come from God, . . . and reflect a splintered fragment of the true light,
the eternal-truth that is with God. Indeed, only by
myth-making . . . can man aspire to the perfection he knew before the
fall.'

"This conversation led Lewis to see that the relationship between the
images of literature and the myth of truth was such that myths inevitably
led to a point where myth comes together with God to
form reality. Eleven days later, C.S. Lewis wrote to Arthur Greeves, 'I have passed from believing in God to
definitely believing in Christ-in Christianity. My long night walk with
Dyson and Tolkien had a great deal to do with
it.'"[22] emphasis added

Finding God through "myth-making" can easily lead to compromise. And when "myth
comes together with God" it produces an illusion of Biblical faith -- a faith
based on a misleading blend of truth, myth and human philosophies. We see this
deceptive process today in the post-modern church movement (see: http://www.hfe.org/resource/articles/postmod.htm).
But long ago, God told us to --

"Be ready in season and out of season. Convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own
desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves
teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned
aside to fables [myths]. But you be watchful in all
things..." 2 Timothy
4:2-5

To be ready and watchful, we need to fill our minds with God's truth, not enticing
myths. We need to put on the whole Armor of God (http://kjos.to/text/articles/armorofgod.html)--
a set of vital truths about God and of our source of righteousness, peace, faith
and salvation -- then take our stand on His Word and refuse to compromise, no
matter how unpopular our position.

Those who trust their imagination more than God
will neither see God's greatness nor tolerate those who follow Him. That's why
Jesus continues to warn His disciples,

"If you were of the world, the world
would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you
out of the world, therefore the world hates you.... If they persecuted
Me they will persecute you... for they do not know the One who sent Me."
John 15:19-21

2. Quoted by Colin Gunton, Professor of Christian Doctrine in the
Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King's College, London. His
article first appeared in the King's Theological Review (Vol. 12, No
1), in 1989. Included as a chapter in Tolkien: A Celebration, edited
by Joseph Pearce (London: Fount, 1999), page 130.

19. Terry Donaldson, The Lord of the Rings Oracle (New York:
Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 1998). "The Lord of the Rings Deck
& Book Set includes the tarot and card game deck plus a spread sheet
for card readings and The Lord of the Rings Tarot Book, by Terry Donaldson.
Donaldson's discussion of the cards wends through Tolkien's works, traditional
tarot inspirations, astrological associations and original spreads and meditations.
The Lord of the Rings Tarot is the ultimate guide for all visitors exploring
Middle-earth via the tarot."

20. Walter Hooper, "The Other Oxford Movement: Tolkien and the Inklings."
Included as a chapter in Tolkien: A Celebration, edited by Joseph Pearce
(London: Fount, 1999), pages 184-185